i'm in my 50s now. growing up, my first motorcycle awareness came from Triumphs. my dad was an Army guy, and back in the day, Triumphs were THE hot road bike to own. lots of military dudes had 'em, and i saw them everywhere. then it was Arlo Guthrie. Bob Dylan. Steve McQueen. shoot man, James freakin Bond on a BSA! i was hooked, and still am. my first bike was a Triumph- 1979 T140E Bonneville.

just sold it recently, after owning it since 1987. i have a 1974 Norton Commando-

all rebuilt and hot rodded up, but still looking relatively stock- at least to the casual observer. and there's that little rat bastard hanging about in my driveway- a one-off Triumph bobber, created by a friend from mostly all old triumph parts, from his vast collection (barns full) of old Brit bits. 73 Tiger Motor, titled on a 69 frame.

the Brit Bikes hold a special place in my heart, always have, always will.

sure, there's some chit chat here about old bikes. hell, it's Old's Cool. nothing says old, or cool, like a vintage Brit Bike. with the numbers of middle age guys in this forum, i wonder why there aren't any Brit threads that have really stuck? so?! so let's stick one. let's stick it GOOD. show us your pix of any and/or every Brit Bike you ever owned, or own now.

The Silver Jubillee was owned by my stepfathers cousin. He was a triumph guy in every sense of the word. He raced in the 60's and 70's. He bought the bike new and never rode it. It stayed mostly in the living room of his house and a brief stint at a local bike shop. He and his father were kind of eccentric characters from what I am told. He passed over 10yrs ago, it was left to his father, his father passed a few years ago, and my step dad was the executor of the estate. I helped them sell it last spring. Went to a guy in chicago and later to a collector somewhere in Alabama I believe. Not Barbers, I contacted them about buying it and they already had a nice example. Pretty cool bike. Not everyday you see a 30+ year old bike that is essentially new. Click on the pics and look at the others of the bike. It still had the paper over the lucas battery with the leads coiled up.

I was 9 years old when the Triumph Trident arrived, and I vowed I'd have one someday. In 1978, my opportunity knocked, and I bought a thoroughly thrashed '69 T150. It took me two years of nights and weekends to make it whole again. It was the first Trident sold out of Dad's shop. Don't adjust your set. A photog friend shot it in black and white.

There wasn't too much to change for fitment , moving the seat back a couple of inch's about did it .Then slapped on coat of paint . Now I have over 4 gallons for long range touring and just love it !!! 34,000 miles and the engine has never been apart .

This is my 3rd Commando, bought out of a carport in MD after it had been sitting under a plastic sheet for 8+ years.
I got it off the second owner, who rode it the summer of '77, parked it in the fall, and then when it wouldn't start the following spring, parked it with "a choke problem".
I got it in '86, with about 7500 miles on it, right after I bought my 1st house, so cash flow was tight. Both the bike and the house were projects, so it took me a couple years to get the Norton back on the road.
It now has about 80K miles, been totaled twice, raced a few times, embarassed a few sport bike riders, and been one of the most fun bikes I've owned.

while on the Isle of Man, we rode out to Laxey, home of the giant "Water Wheels" to try to attain a Guinness Book World Record for the most BSAs ever assembled.

we DID IT! the Guinness World Book guy addressed the crowd from atop a stone wall, yelling thru a large, orange safety cone, in his staunch British Accent. his speech began with these words:
"In my long career, i have done many things, none of which include addressing a crowd by yelling thru an orange Safety Cone!"

so yeah, Isle of Man. i'm there in August 2008 with about 500 other folks from around the world. most of us RDOE in on BSAs of assorted vintages. it was pretty great, but ya think it rains at ALL on the IoM? we rolled off the Steam Packet Ferry (out of Liverpool) in Douglas around midnight -a whole other story i won't get into, suffice it to say that we began calling the Steam PAcket Company the Steam RACKET Company.

anyhow, midnight, and it was POURING rain. no drizzle, no mild rain, it was dumping buckets. here's what the campground looked like next morning:

but yeah it was still the Isle of Man so we didn't really care what was happening. we were there to ride.

yeah August 2008, 45th International BSA Rally. did i mention we were there for the practice week, of the Manx GP?

looking at the course map, the BSA Rally Campground was on the first big straight- at Union Mills. the bikes would scream past going so fast it was just surreal! the pix of practicing riders were taken at Kirk Micheal, and at Ballaugh Bridge.

you find a pub, drink some traditional Cask Ales, maybe have some fresh, locally caught/grown food, and watch the race bikes zoom by at breath-taking speeds, just a few feet away. well. it doesn't suck.

of course they race every kind of bike imaginable, including several classes of vintage bikes. race officials close the roads down (on the course anyway) at 6:00 PM and practice runs thru 9:00. it's fantastic! Motorcycle Nirvana to say the least. you can ferry over to the IoM from many different places in Europe and the UK, or you can fly right into Douglas. if this is on your "list" at ALL, then GO. just do it. it is SO doggone cool that no words can adequately describe it. seriously!